Hamdi Ulukaya, the world’s greatest CEO?

With this question this video went viral in social media, it tells the news about a CEO that gave his 2.000 employees 10% of the company’s stock. We are talking about Chobani, the yogurt company founded by Hamdi Ulukaya, turkish immigrant in 2005.

If the company value it’s surrounding the 3 billion dollars and employees got stocks according their seniority, some may be seeing earnings up to 150.000 dollars or even become millionaires.

Hamdi’s reason to give this present is simple: “Chobani wasn’t built without all these people. This is better than any bonus or raise, it’s a part of what they helped build”.

Do you need more reasons to start considering this CEO as one of the best? We found other initiatives of work happiness, motivation and wellbeing that the president of Chobani has implement and that are an inspiration.

Parental leave for fathers: after having his son in october of 2016, Hamdi notice the difficulties for new parents without paid leave. That’s why since 2017 his employees have 6 weeks of paid leave if they are new parents, women or male. Hamdi even motivates their employees to use the leave without fearing about their careers being affected.

Inaugural Class of the Chobani Food Incubator: he created his own incubator for food entrepreneurship. And 400 startups signed in for the first class, 6 were selected to work next to Hamdi to build what he calls: “the future of food”.

#GivingTuesday: on top of Hamdi’s philanthropy work, often focused on helping immigrants, the Chobani’s CEO motivates charity amongst his employees with any act of kindness with the community, friends or family.

He employs 300 refugees: to which he gave transportation and translation services. “The minute a refugee has a work, that’s the minute he stops being a refugee”, with this statement Hamdi defined his position at the World Economic Forum. He got death threats and boycotts claims by xenophobic groups.

Integrity since the product: the founder’s values were made clear since the conception of the yogurt. It’s pure yogurt with real fruits. As he tells in the next video: “when it’s authentic, when it’s real, you don’t have to say a lot about it, people will know”.

And did we mention he pays above the minimum wage? Chobani is the number one yogurt brand in the U.S.A. and has sales for 1.6 billion dollars. Like this, this CEO proves that happiness at work translate to a happier world and a successful company.